Why I will NEVER use the Metric System

How Americans Missed out on the Metric System
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The US decided not to join the rest of the world to go metric. Here’s why.
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Johnny Harris is a filmmaker and journalist. He currently is based in Washington, DC, reporting on interesting trends and stories domestically and around the globe. Johnny's visual style blends motion graphics with cinematic videography to create content that explains complex issues in relatable ways. He holds a BA in international relations from Brigham Young University and an MA in international peace and conflict resolution from American University.
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[@hm5142]

As a physicist, I shrink in horror from the thought of using imperial units for calculations.

[@michawisniewski4654]

well, as electronics designer I am using metric for definition of board dimensions, all calculations, reflow profiles, etc. But when it comes to routing - I am switching to imperial - despite the fact, I am living in Europe. Why? Because basic THT pin grid was 0.1" and that stayed. Of course, today you will find, that most components have their pitch and dimensions defined purely in metric, but majority of PCB fab houses will show you their copper etching capabilities in imperial. So you basically have 90% of PCB dimensions metric, but track widths are in freaking mils. And yes, in theory you can provide metric Gerber files - but when you go for the minimal values permitted by fab - your project may be rejected.

[@J.Stank9]

What's the first thing Americans learn in grade school science classes? Oh right, always use metric for any science. Why are Europeans so mad that Americans prefer to use imperial in their day-to-day life? Because the majority of media content they consume is made by Americans and they're minorly inconvenienced by the use of imperial. Maybe Europeans shouldn't have invented the imperial system

[@Crusty_Camper]

I agree. Imagine using BTUs and foot/pounds again.

[@thierrypauwels]

Yes. Just like it would be a horror to measure time in days, hours, minutes and seconds, and angles in degrees, minutes and seconds. The conversion to the metric system is not yet finished, even outside the three countries using imperial measurements.

[@Crusty_Camper]

The second is an SI unit though.

[@displaychicken]

Metric System supporters: “its perfect, it’s logical, it’s easy” Imperial System supporters: “USA! USA! USA!”

[@Nekoyama69]

Who uses Imperial System besides USA? Liberia and Burma a very exclusive club indeed. :D

[@elomial724]

@@Nekoyama69 No, when I was in the UK everything was in miles/yards etc. I heard that Canada uses the same measurement so it may apply to Australia and New Zealand and more british colonies

[@harmlessbird]

@@elomial724 I can assure you us over here is Australia and New Zealand don't use imperial at all and much prefer metric

[@roggonval]

@@elomial724 i don't know to which england you went because literally everything was in meters

[@elomial724]

@@harmlessbird Every country uses imperial system to measure a length of screen actually

[@bad_money]

Imperial and metric have something in common: They're both incompatible with imperial.

[@littlelebowski7714]

😂😂😂

[@funkygecko]

just joining the ride to top comment

[@heya2325]

underrated comment

[@khidrrr]

Took me a few moments 🤣

[@winchester289]

This should have way more likes 😂

[@HCkev]

"I will never use the metric system!" Drug dealers: "So how many grams do you want?"

[@JohnnieWalkerGreen]

A few moment later... "May I pay in 9mm rounds?"

[@TedM.-hh3to]

Nope, also there they use ounces. 1/8 ounces, 3/8 ounces, ...

[@mike-wh5hd]

@@TedM.-hh3to Ah, someone with expertise?😉

[@TedM.-hh3to]

@@mike-wh5hd watching Hollywood movies 😉

[@rastalique8114]

It's funny when states measure canabis in units of "28 grams" instead of just saying "ounce".😅

[@danieltakawi9919]

Fun fact: The way all imperial units are defined now is through the metric system. An inch has no definition other than 2.54 cm.

[@centrismo9110]

25.4 millimeters

[@markfinlay6923]

One 12th of a foot.

[@snarlbanarl1940]

@@markfinlay6923how do you think a foot is defined?

[@Lord_Skeptic]

3 barleycorns

[@louaytheking9989]

​@@snarlbanarl1940poof, right into his head😂, he will probably say something'th of a mile..😂😂

[@sabrac8744]

Metric > Imperial

[@hellopeople1294]

I feel like I’m in a war zone

[@_laurenolo_]

@@engineerenginering8633 how? they're saying Metric is better than Imperial

[@monkofdarktimes]

Luv mi imperial 'ate mi metric Simple as

[@engineerenginering8633]

@@_laurenolo_ it's not

[@kenhiett5266]

I like that the world's superpower is still stubbornly using the quirky imperial system.

[@aa-to6ws]

I love the imperial system in medieval RPG's. It really gives it a sense of immersion into a primitive society where nothing makes sense.

[@aetos198]

@Tom Beebe lmao, thinking the imperial system was even somewhat equal in usefulness to the metric system, so you feel the need to know both…

[@Bazzookie]

@@aetos198 Imagine thinking it even matters, it's simply a way to convey distance and temperature. Arguing over what's better is like trying to argue what language is better, and then saying "English is the best language because that's what everyone is using at the global level." It's all meaningless. We're fucking monkeys on a space rock flying around a burning ball of gas in space, do you think the universe gives a fuck?

[@palimondo]

🔥

[@Brigtzen]

@Tom Beebe Imagine not using kelvin to cook noodles

[@lianvitos]

I used to think that only developing countries would use a imperial system, until I realized there are only three of them

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

Short answer: because you're stuck with imperial and never learnt the better alternative from the start

[@zemtek420]

I was about to leave the same comment.

[@elmascapo6588]

​​@@zemtek420"better alrernative" is a lie The Imperial system single handely saved the us from being a shithole unlike the rest of the world

[@imaginewave1]

Because counting in "burgers per second" is kinda suck ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

@@imaginewave1 what

[@justsoicanfingcomment5814]

Don't know, use them both and other than wrench sizes Imperial is better in everything to visualise.

[@elpana3752]

As a foreigner that moved to America I’ve found their measurement system just plain crazy, thank goodness for the internet and my phone.

[@strangebeard11]

Here in the UK we have a ridiculous mash up of both systems. And most people still give their height and weight in imperial even now.

[@hekter2364]

Like how many football fields crazy?

[@shirokisasaki3233]

right

[@jiyoo6109]

its not crazy..its stupid

[@trukeesey8715]

It's not crazy. It's natural. Metric is "of the mind" not "of nature". Anything of the mind is evil, of nature good. Just the fact that you wrote "foreigner" tells the tale. Metric is foreign.

[@bassiebe]

There is a reason why all the standard formulas in science are using the metric system… BECAUSE IT MAKES SENSE 🤣

[@odnewdylee]

In the science of land surveying/engineering we use tenths where the decimal doesn't move. Metric moves decimals.

[@bassiebe]

@@odnewdylee that is metric…

[@Peter-ow6rg]

I mean all maths is made up, it makes Broad sense cause we have 10 digits in total on both hand and makes using a base 10 system more familiar as when we grow up, fingers are good for learning aids

[@Feefa99]

I work in international logistics and constant change of systems really doesn't make job easier with hundreds of currencies and languages and hundreds of thousands of kind of goods. Yes metrics system makes sense, because people are able to do mistakes because of overly complicated systemic issues (I mean not just measurement 😀)

[@odnewdylee]

@@bassiebe until using cm, then the decimal is in the wrong place. It becomes it's own entity not like tenths. Tenths are always behind the decimal so when using blueprints you don't have to check any signs after the number.

[@jsveiga]

Hey, as a metric person and engineer, I feel the urge to point out that the official SI abbreviations are case sensitive, so for example from 21:15 on you use "M" instead of "m" for meters, then "KM" instead of "km" (but correctly use "cm", why?). Case is very important, as you don't want to confuse MW (megawatt) with mW (milliwatt) or PV (petavolt) with pV (picovolt)!

[@texanplayer7651]

Imagine running a train with mW but charging your phone with MW

[@IncDoge]

One metric person to another... just give up, they wont ever get it. And i doubt they want to get it cus the f in feet and farenheight stands for FREEDOM

[@victoriasoto1017]

@@IncDoge 'Murica - the place where they believe they are ultra-free but they are totally not.

[@Shoomer1988]

@@texanplayer7651 I imagine that you wouldn't be able to call a taxi because the train isn't working because your phone just caught fire.

[@otakugamer616]

I never knew these awesome thanks for Donation of some knowledge to me

[@MrMattie725]

9:30 40.075km is the distance arround the equator. The distances arround the poles is only 40.008km. Which does match the error you mention.

[@dhruvrathee]

Wait till you realize that in many countries, a mix of both systems is used. In India, people use kms for long distances, liters for volume but sq.ft for area and feet for measuring heights 😅

[@yourfellowhumanbeing2323]

Do we use feet for measuring height???

[@parthbhargava3167]

Namaskar doston

[@kruspepoq8985]

Same in Canada, British relics

[@lightyagami9959]

Wassup my man 👋

[@balakumaravel7034]

haha true.but these days atleast school going students mostly use centimeters for height as medical check up reports mention it in metric system.also 1liter = 1000ml so its atleast better than that 29.547.... conversion for ounces

[@kre4ture218]

I love how this discussion comes up again and again even though one system is objectively and utterly superior

[@noelmasson]

Superior? How exactly? Objectively and utterly?

[@hyrulehollowtitan9657]

Yeah, the imperial system is based on random things, while the metric is very consistent within, works with the most standard physics models, its overall logical

[@WhiteShadowZO]

The metrics system is also based on random things. "Earth" and "water" are no more objective than body parts or pieces of corn. And as explained, even measurements based on the human body can be standardized. And they can also be used to calculate physical phenomenon. The imperial system is very good for human style living and human sized things.

[@eliterager9241]

@@WhiteShadowZO Actually it is not, the metric system is a universal system of measurement, as it has been proven that a meter is the inverse of the speed of light in a vacuum. Which is given a fixed numerical value of 299,792,458 m/s, so a meter can be defined as the distance covered by light in a vacuum in exactly 1/299,792,458 of a second.

[@andrewmatthews8428]

Yea metric really is superior 🦅🇺🇸🥓🍳

[@F3nya]

I always found it funny how during my school years (in Estonia) we used rules that always had centimeters on one side and inches on the other and I never knew what those inches are on the other side, no one used them anywhere, but they were still there.

[@NeoDerGrose]

Same here in Germany.

[@tor4472]

That's what it was like in the U.S. except we only used inches and didn't really know what the centimeters meant!

[@bernardobila4336]

Same here in Mozambique

[@土曜日]

I'm from Estonia too, very familiar for me

[@cosmicnights]

Same in Australia.

[@texasranger24]

In metric, one milliliter of water occupies one cubic centimeter, weighs one gram, and requires one calorie of energy to heat up by one degree centigrade-which is 1 percent of the difference between its freezing point and its boiling point. An amount of hydrogen weighing the same amount has exactly one mole of atoms in it. Whereas in the American system, the answer to ‘How much energy does it take to boil a room-temperature gallon of water?’ is ‘Go fuck yourself,’ because you can’t directly relate any of those quantities.

[@miked.9364]

Not true.

[@gibbel4619]

Except that a calorie isn't a SI unit. You would have to say it take about 4.2 J to heat up the water by 1°C (the engineer in me also screams that properties such a density and heat capacity are temperature dependant). But then °C isn't an SI unit either, though pragmatically Kelvin was defined using °C as a basis.

[@sidorgeorge]

Except that the average America wouldn't give one flying f*ck about how much energy it takes to boil a room temperature gallon of water. They just turn on the gas stove, and not worry about things like that which are in the egghead domain.

[@NTelling]

@@sidorgeorge Nice work giving an example of how measurements don't matter when doing a task that requires no measurements.

[@ElwoodEBlues]

@@gibbel4619 The calorie is in fact the basis for the kg TNT equivalent: 1 calorie = 4.184 J 1kg TNT equiv. = 4.184 MJ (by definition, simply burning TNT releases less energy per kg) 1 Megaton = 1,000,000 X 1,000 kg X 4.184 MJ = 4.184 PJ (petajoules) Imagine that energy released within about 600 ns (nanoseconds) when the bomb goes off ... or when it's 56 MT as the device had the Russians have tested in '61 (Tsar Bomba)

[@timothysands5537]

As a mechanical engineering student in America, I can firmly claim that myself and all students in my major beg on their hands and knees for metric based problems and never imperial unit based ones.

[@themoss7115]

Because it is built as an actual system and it works with decimal numbers. Imperial "system" is just random pile of ad-hoc measurement units added on top of each other over centuries when someone needed to measure something new. It's somewhat useful for day to day life, but it is incompatible with modern math.

[@2020-p2z]

As an engineering student in Australia, if I get a problem with imperial units, I convert to metric as the first step, because engineering, and indeed any endeavour that requires any degree of precision, should not be done with imperial under any circumstances.

[@Labyrinth6000]

Yeah because it’s by design by the government to give up the imperial system just to “get in line” with the rest of the world.

[@Tridd666]

Why?

[@gomerzpyle6805]

You're on the wrong board for that. That's a matter of another discussion hence the term mechanical engineer. When you step outside to see if you need a jacket or not you don't get surveying equipment. If you get in your car to grab something to eat and need to go by the gas station they don't break your tank down into cc's. That would be for Ju Mcduck. We're not paying in Shekels. For measuring your Johnson I'm sure metric is a little more flattering.

[@Saffy1]

I decided to teach my kid both systems. It was really hard for him to grasp imperial system but metric system was a breeze for him.

[@franekkkkk]

Surprising lol

[@sekou3758]

Because Metric is the best

[@thienquoc5790]

Then just teach him the metric system if it's so much easier, no need to make your child go through that much mental torment.

[@marvemarve8234]

There’s a reason why pretty much the entire world is using it

[@CUBETechie]

It logical and easy to understand

[@xenobarbital]

I've been using metric my entire life. I was aware about existence of all those inches, feet and pounds, but those meant as much for me as something like old Roman league. Then I got more proficient with English and I started reading British and American literature. That made me memorize some conversion coefficients to roughly recalculate all those into metric. And believe it or not, I got there. Well, kind of. A mile? About 1.6 km (1609). A nautical mile? About 1.8 km. A pound? Slightly less than half a kilogram (0.454). And inch? 2.5(ish) cm. Then I got into woodworking and started watching all those youtube videos, mostly by American and British craftsmen. Vast majority of them use inches. And when they go "oh, this is 3/16 of an inch, that one is 5/6, the other one is 3/4 etc, etc, etc. This is when my neural system shuts down. I freaking hate this. Metric is orders of magnitude more convenient. All you have to care about is decimal fractions. That's it. Sorry (not really).

[@GregBrownsWorldORacing]

Brits, Canadians, Mexicans & Americans have to own Two Sets of Tools, one Imperial, one metric, because of foreign cars and what not, two sets of sockets, wrenches, drill bits etc. It Gets quite expensive if you buy quality tools. What I like best about metric is if your first guess for a wrench is 10 and it doesn't fit, it's easy to tell if you need a 9 or an 11. If I start off with a 5/8 inch wrench and it doesn't fit, I'm not sure what the next /16th of an inch or/32 to use... Super frustrating! So in addition to being like the rest of the world (except on KZbin Furniture making) Think of the money you are saving on tools. And as the man said, Thomas Jefferson ordered a kilo from France and the US were probably going to convert, but Pirates! 🏴‍☠🏴‍☠

[@JayKarpwick]

@@GregBrownsWorldORacing Actually nearly all US-made cars are metric as well, and have been since the 1980s when GM realized they couldn't justify two parallel "ecosystems". A classmate of mine who worked as a GM engineeer at the time said that at least anecdotally, conversion costs not only turned out to be far lower than anticipated, there were ongoing savings that accrued from SI's simplicity.

[@AlanKlughammer]

I remember when Canada switched to Metric. It was confusing for a bit, and we had to convert things in our heads. Now I have no idea how the US-ian measurement system works. Now when I travel to the States I have to convert to metric for it to make sense.

[@kjay8796]

In Canada the extent of our metric use is km for speed limits and Celsius for temperature. Everything else here is still imperial. We aren’t a metric country.

[@JfjsnxjfndiKcbjdksm]

​@@kjay8796 km/h, km is for length ahah

[@WilliamAndrea]

@@kjay8796 I feel like you're forgetting a lot of things. Like yeah we measure people's height in feet and inches, and weight in pounds, but food is all in metric like 2L soda bottles, or at least it's labeled as such even when it's not actually measured in it, like 473ml beer cans (16 fl oz). Also in the weather, snowfall is measured in cm and rain in mm. Also on the road, height limits are in metres and weight limits in metric tonnes.

[@louistournas120]

@@WilliamAndrea Canada, Quebec. For people’s height, it seems to be mixes. Some people use inches and some use cm. When I visit various doctors, they only use cm. For road length and speed, it is pretty rare to hear miles and feet. For weather reports, they only use mm, cm for rain and snow depth. They only use Celsius. They only use km for visibility. They only use Pascal or kPa for pressure. For TV and monitor size, everyone uses inches since that is what the box says in large letter. It is USA related. For supermarkets and such, pounds are prioritized for some reason. They mostly print out $/kg as well. It is mostly in the construction industry where imperial units are always used. If I want to buy drill bits, they give fractional numbers like 3/8 of an inch.... and they lost me. I have no idea what 3/8 or 1/4 and such means. Why don’t they give exact numbers? Hey, what time is it? It is 345/1735 hour and 731/3895 minutes.

[@Migeru70]

Go and try to buy 1/4 of kilo of anything at the market, they will scratch their heads and say: "oh, a half-pound!"

[@JazzGuitar-qs1td]

Q. What is 1 x 10? A. 10 Congratulations, you just mastered the metric system.

[@fransthefox9682]

Americans will never figure that out.

[@TheMapGod275]

@@fransthefox9682a lot of Americans. I’m American and I can… READ!!! Can you believe it!!! I’m an AMERICAN that can READ and do MATH(s). I’m like a genius or something, right?

[@fransthefox9682]

@@TheMapGod275 Ah okay. Then you must know the Metric system even more than the Imperial system.

[@darrellbeets7758]

@@TheMapGod275 i bet u still use imperial... for us who never use imperial using it seems stupid..aka even if u only use it once every while.....stupid.

[@Nikioko]

That's the decimal system... And the US have that as well when it comes to 100 cents in a dollar.

[@omicron1100]

I was able to successfully calibrate my brain to metric by changing my map navigation to metric. Since you're constantly being given feedback on how many meters away you are from a given turn, it doesn't take long for your brain to be able to tell how far a kilometer is. I highly suggest giving it a try.

[@privatemale27]

I started with temperature, but am still not used to using it consistently...

[@t0k4m4k7]

@@privatemale27 If you live in a moderate climate you just have to know that 0° is freezing so you can see ice or snow, 20 degrees is a comfortable shirt temperature, at 30 its hot and 100 you literally evaporate. After that it's all downhill. Btw even i can't guess better than plus or minus a couple degrees

[@OkRake]

I'll try it. I forsee a multitude of U-turns in my future

[@paapali]

@@t0k4m4k7 wellllll you can actually exist in 100 degrees (celcius, ofc) for some time before you die. You can do that in a sauna.

[@connorrothgeb]

I did this on a recent road trip to Canada. Google maps automatically switches to km when crossing the border and I changed my car’s measurements to metric too

[@zambination11]

This video has 3.8 million views or "149 ³⁹/₆₄ of 6.67474⁴⁷/₆₄ of 153 ⁵/₃₂" Imperial Views

[@jordieneumann1712]

I had no concept of how long a kilometre was until i started driving around using maps. Siri saying “turn right in 900 metres” “turn left in 50 metres” really helped me understand what those measurements actually meant! Could be helpful if you are struggling to get it!

[@dbclass4075]

It is a matter of practice. It may take some effort, as you have to deliberately try to implement metric in daily routine. But at the end, this will make it easier to interact internationally.

[@TheNewGreenIsBlue]

Or if you run with a smart watch make it a habit of running 5k or 10k which are pretty standard running distances. Highway exits usually have signs at 1200m and 400m, so every time you see ¾ mi just think 1200m. That being said, metric is "okay" but I DO prefer PARTS of the imperial system for it's mathematical bases. Having things based on 12 and 16 makes things really nice to work with. It's just too bad the French didn't choose to standardize the number system away from decimal and use dozenal (base 12). Would have made things so much better.

[@fulltimemonti]

Thats funny, I have gotten angry at google when it tells me to turn in 400 feet. How long is that? 1/4 mile I can understand. Metric would make that easier.

[@TheNewGreenIsBlue]

@@fulltimemonti EXACTLY this. I mean, in REALITY, it doesn't matter how many METERS an exit is away either, it's just that 1200m is more clear than 1.2km. due to the decimal point, which really should be avoided when designing large signs that have to be read VERY quickly. That's why signs in the USA stick to MILES for everything, and you see ¼ mi and ¾ mile signs. Ironically, many metric architectural blueprints only EVERY use one unit anyhow... mm. a 2.5m wall is written as 2500. This avoids any confusion. Also, both the US and Canada standardized on teaching cm as a kind of base unit, but mm is just almost always superior. You almost NEVER need to get smaller than a mm in day to day life. cm were added to make an approximation to an inch... and it's an imperfect comparison and you end up using fractions a lot anyhow.

[@apotheoz9196]

@@TheNewGreenIsBlue dozenal is thrash, you can't easily make conversions since the base of usual numbers is 10 by 10. It would give something like hours to minutes and days, and that's a PITA to convert. I enjoy a base 10 way more for easy conversions.

[@EustaH]

The trick in getting used to metric is not to start using metric in your head - it's to stop using imperial. And it can be done. It's like learning a new language - at first you're translating everything in your head until eventually something clicks and you just think in a new language. But yeah, probably not feasible to do it alone - you need everybody else doing it to keep you going.

[@brentsnocomgaming7813]

That has actually happened to me with small measurements. Anything under half an inch makes more sense to me in mm because I have a German car I often work on and all the bolts are in metric, so when I think of a frame of reference from small units of length, i think of those bolt sizes, in Metric. I will use US Customary down the about a half inch then just switch over to mm. Anything over about 18mm becomes meaningless to me and anything under half an inch also becomes somewhat meaningless.

[@waystadtymphyndir7079]

Metric is the easiest language to learn, while teaching you a scientific logic that goes forwards and backwards with absolute accuracy using 1s and 0s. I will teach you a learning. Are you ready? 1+1=2 Congrats!...you now know the Metric System. Well done children. Gold Star for you all. Oh...by the way...as in money we use a "Coma" per Metric Currency...all you have to use is a "Dot" or in Imperial it might be called a "Period". A "Period" is a simular word that Women do not enjoy having as Math nuts hate hearing.

[@Henry-sv3wv]

@@waystadtymphyndir7079 any woman that does have 60 periods per second does sound like an electric power station

[@wimoweh]

@@waystadtymphyndir7079 try this 2+4= 3/8

[@johnpombrio]

I was a physics major in university so I learned the metric system and worked with it for years. As soon as I left the field tho, I lost the ability to estimate in metric. Later in life, I decided to do my woodworking in metric (I still have a metric tape measure and a meter stick) and run my thermometers in celsius. I made like two wood projects in metric and was SO frustrated that my metric tools are covered with sawdust. As for the temperature, I was constantly and secretly converting EVERY temperature back to Fahrenheit. Both totally failed. About the only thing that I can easily do is go from Kilometers to Miles and back as I have a pretty good feel for that and the conversion is so simple.

[@annoholics]

So what do they use in the US for electricity? We use for power the Watt. 1 Watt is a Joule per second. A joule is the amount of energy that is needed to change the speed of 1 kg with 1 meter / s^2. If you buy a lightbulb in the US, is it still measured in horse power? Or what else do they use?

[@andrewinat434]

Horsepower for electricity ? That's sound dumb 😅

[@danielklopp7007]

@@andrewinat434 - Are you referring to American horsepower (1 hp = 745.7 watts) or German horsepower ( 1 ps = 735.5 watts)? In Germany engine power is sometimes quoted in "ps" (literally translated as "horsepower"), and in the United States engine power is quoted in "hp", but the two units are not the same (even though they go by the same name in their respective languages - similar to the difference between a British pint and an American pint)... pointing out one of the difficulties of any measurement system other than metric. Ironically, the USA typically uses the metric unit of power (watts) to measure electrical power, but the Imperial unit of power (horsepower) to measure (piston, internal combustion) engine power.

[@Okurka.]

BTU

[@danielklopp7007]

@@Okurka. - BTU (British Thermal Unit) is a measure of energy, not power. The SI unit of energy is the Joule. The SI unit of power is the Watt

[@Okurka.]

@@danielklopp7007 Woosh.

[@alexdornenherz]

The metric system: literally every unit is just 10x , 100x or 1000x the sum of the last. Americans: This is too complicated to me.

[@BoogieManSince1977]

hahahaha so many "Yards/Feet/Poles/What-the-f**k-ever" of this. Logic... apparently not for everyone :P

[@MatthewHill]

Yeah but powers of 2 are much easier in actual use than powers of ten. Look at a distance--easy to mentally cut it in half, quarters, eights, etc. Units that are 10x from each other just aren't that convenient. But at the end of the day, it doesn't matter--as long as it's standardized. Pick a system that works for you and stop being a snob about it.4

[@grosnain]

they even don't know where america is !

[@gfixler]

But 10 isn't useful for me. I do woodworking. Halves and doubles in feet and inches is far more useful. I got all excited in college when I found precision decimal inch rulers, because I could finally work in decimal, which sounded amazing, but still work at my familiar scale, and fit standard spaces and objects in the US. I struggled with it for a year or two, before ditching it entirely. It sucked, constantly. I don't convert between things like lengths and liquid volumes, so ×10 and ÷10 is it's only trick, which I never found useful. With a foot I can divide a box into 1 12" space, 2 6" spaces, 3 4" spaces, 4 3" spaces, 6 2" spaces, or 12 1" spaces, all of which are really great, human-scale sizes. A cm is so small, it's never useful on its own, and everywhere I look I find things are some crazy number of mm, like 17.3mm x 29.7mm. All the standards are crazy, too, like plywood is 1200x2400mm (13 syllables), whereas mine is 4x8ft (4 syllables). All our stuff is 1x2, 2x4, 4x4, 2x8, etc - super small and simple. European cabinetry uses a lot of roughly 5x5ft panels, but there it's 1525x1525mm. In the US, ceilings tend to be 8 (I can almost touch), 9 (can almost jump to touch), or 10 ft (can't reach). In the UK they're 2.4m or 2.6m, complicated from the start. All the numbers are a lot more wacky to me. We have 2x4s. They have 100x47mm (I found a number of different things, but most weren't nice, simple, memorable things). I've heard other countries use these wacky mm sizes, but often still call them things like 2x4s, because of how nice that is. We do a ton of timber framing the US, so all of these numbers are small, simple, and work out great. The UK does a ton of brick and block building. The office I'm in right now is 10x12x9, super easy to figure out things like how much paint I need for the walls, or how much wood I need for the flooring. I just looked up standard UK office spaces, and right away found a page that said "In a typical room, where the ceiling is 2.4m high, a floor area of 4.6m2 (for example 2.0 x 2.3m) will be needed to provide a space of 11 cubic metres. Where the ceiling is 3.0m high or higher the minimum floor area will be 3.7m2 (for example 2.0 x 1.85m). It's all a bunch of hard to remember decimals, and that seems standard. I've investigated this many times over the years, and everything ends up a wash of thick decimal numbers. All the rooms in all the houses I've lived in have been simple, whole number feet measurements - 10x10, 15x20, 10x12. I could remember the whole house when I was at the home store, because feet are a much more usable scale than centimeters or meters, and so we build to them most of the time. I also find mm to be just too tiny. It's like having to work in 32nds of an inch all the time. At my age I can't even easily see them anymore. The next thing up, cm, are still so small I need a ton of them to do anything. Up from there, we blow past desktop scale stuff, and we're in m, but even that doesn't match up with anything, like the height of a human, or a room. Everything is off, and non-ergonomic. I could go on and on. Imperial may not be great for science, and conversions between entirely different types of units - totally agree - but it is a really nice system for things like woodworking, and even CNC machining (I have an imperial CNC mill and lathe). Now, of course, everything's trade-offs, so I will say that I looked into it before, and found stud (joist? rafter? I forget now) spacing in metric being done at 60cm, which is very nearly 24"/2', but is wonderfully divisible by almost everything - 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 10, 12, 15, 20, 30, 60. I have to admit that's pretty cool.

[@Rithmy]

@@gfixler If you grow up in metric system then some or many of your points never happen. You still feel and think in the imperial system, but try to use the metric system. That does not work. Just like me using the imprial system. I find it easy to work with those hard to remember decimals, but i guess its a point you have there with those multiplications. I know how tall i am and how far i can reach. 2.4m is not complicated for me at all. I rougthly know what a cm is. I know where to find proportions on my hands that are 10cm or 20 cm. Very usefull. I know how to make a step that is 1 m long.

[@AndrewHewing]

I am 77 years of age and I grew up using the imperial system. I can add fractions in my head. However when making furniture I quickly recognized that imperial is (practically) just not accurate enough! And so I changed to Metric. Working to a millimetre is easier (and more accurate) than working to 1/16th inch! Once you get used to metric you will never want to go back!

[@garyholt8315]

discovered the same thing !

[@rameynoodles152]

What I don't understand, is why things were divided like on a binary system in powers of 2?? I mean, imagine if the foot was not divided into 4ths, 8th, 16ths and 32nds, but instead divided into tenths, hundredths, and thousandths just like metric? Issue gone. Poof. And what if we just picked one single unit for each type of measurment, and just multiplied or divided by 10, 100, 1000, etc? Like, ok, you got meters, grams, and liters, we got yards, ounces, and gallons. Now instead of kilometers, centimeters, kilograms, milligrams etc we got kiloyards, centiyards, kiloounces, milliounces, kilogallons, etc... Boom, issue solved again. The thing I like about imperial is that many of the base units of measure are good representations for what they are commonly used for. Feet is good because you can approximate a distance with literal feet, so it fits nicely for the application. Fahrenheit is particularly good for weather because instead of being based on boiling point of water, it's based on the average temperature of the human body, and it allows for nice round numbers for particular air temperatures that feel noticably different. For instance, most people like their room temperature to be 68, 69, 70, 71, or 72 degrees fahrenheit. This corresponds to 20c, 20.555c, 21.111c, 21.666c, and 22.222c. If you wanted to give whole numbers for room temp in celcius, each whole digit would go up by nearly 2 degrees fahrenheit, which is too large of a jump, so you are forced to use decimal places to describe your ideal room temp.

[@russelbiffs3683]

@@rameynoodles152 this is a lame excuse. I have no problem describing 20.5 C, 21C, 21.5C and so on for my room temperature. My A/C control shift temperature in 0.5C steps. In fact, comparing to distance, using 0.5 increments in temperature is easier than describing a size of wrench socket a 7/16" or 1-1/8". Describing like that it is very ackward compared to the closest metric equivalents (M16 or M29).

[@NoBodysGamer]

@@rameynoodles152 I dont know, using Celcious is easy and logical, 0 is freezing water, 100 is boiling and means dont shove your fingers, average human body temp is 36, i use AC set to 25C The differences in your example are not feelable one degree celcious is nothing, plus one minus one you wont really feel it

[@rameynoodles152]

@@NoBodysGamer Man, i gotta say.. A/C set to 25C is REALLY HOT.

[@anthonybrowne8863]

I was in high school in Australia when the whole country switched to metric. The text books were imperial one year and metric the next. The thing is they took the same text and changed the measurements. The technical drawing books would say draw a square 52 mm by 52 mm. Every thing I read had conversion factors built in. I was constantly doing conversions for my dad. (Not my mum, she was a pharmacist and was already across the whole metric system). After a while my dad got used to it too, it wasn't that hard.

[@reezlaw]

Probably the only way to do it is the whole country in one big bang

[@Majormockery151]

yeah, the key is schooling.

[@ApoJake13]

Yeah, as an American, I don't disagree that it wouldn't be that hard - in the long run. It would just be one hell of a speed bump to get over. I personally think we should convert to metric, but until it becomes officially sanctioned by the government, I agree with Johnny in that it is impossible for me to comprehend and retain it. It's basically like learning a second language. You can learn that language and even be fluent in it, but if you don't use it in everyday life, you will just revert back to what you know and are comfortable with.

[@Minifliek]

You underestimate how stubborn Americans are.

[@mirjamleeflang7482]

It's really true that you learn this because your environment adjusted to it. In my country there are little green signs next to the road spread 100 m apart. The signs are there to tell you the exact location if you were to be stranded there (amongst other things). But it helped me to understand what a distance of 100 m looks like subconsciously. Just a small example.

[@manospetridis6145]

1 L = 61.023744 in³ = 33.814023 fl oz = 2.113376 pt = 1.056688 qt = 0.264172 gal = 0.035315 ft³ = 0.001308 yd³. Meanwhile, 1 L = 1,000 cm³ = 0.001 m³. You do the math.

[@Matpatnik-inc]

I'm Canadian machinist working in the wood industry. I have to convert and switch from one unit to the other every day because the wood we buy and construction site use the old US imperial system and everything else in metric. The imperial measurement is a nightmare when you need to work with decimal.

[@vukasinristanovic5940]

ouch , I feel you

[@johnbuie9195]

Welcome to the UK. 😂

[@timtomnec]

BRo decimals are simple, come back when you do fractions for 7/16 and 15/32

[@Matpatnik-inc]

@@timtomnec I think you are missing the point here. Only working with decimal, of course it's easy but converting the fraction back and forth its is where the pain begin especially in the 32th of an inch and smaller.

[@Matpatnik-inc]

@soyel94 welcome the the wood industry in Quebec, I don't know about the other province. I guess we like it rough lol

[@Przybylski713]

Metric system is superior!

[@Heckerschee]

Obviously

[@Cowatude]

Metric gang 📏

[@WhoeverThisManIs20.14]

@UCKW5MtM_bgUIfQLT6eIFq-g You're the one who is wrong.

[@thomassmith7884]

Chill out nerds

[@HaybaleMelon]

Woooo metric

[@p.morgan4084]

It's the reverse for me, I am French but studied urban planning in the US and I was always struggling with sqft, yards, acres... always secretly converting them to sqm, meters, hectares... to get a rough idea of what our teachers were talking about 😀

[@siloetnatchanel]

Vive la République, vive la France!

[@sdamer4609]

@@siloetnatchanel Je m'appelle me Poo Poo!!

[@siloetnatchanel]

@@sdamer4609 ok I guess

[@huquui8789]

Apprendre l'urbanisme aux USA ? Pire idée ever ?

[@siloetnatchanel]

@@huquui8789 t'façon à partir du moment ou ça concerne pas des armes ou des burgers c'est pas la peine

[@oldmankell]

Whenever I see a title like that, my first thought is- "Is base 10 just too hard for you to figure out?" I'm an American, trained and worked as an American Mechanic. I moved to Europe. The metric system makes MY life easier in so many ways.

[@ilsgrade8357]

It's not that it's hard. From my experience, it's just useless stubbornness and a weird sense of national pride.

[@cdgncgn]

@@ilsgrade8357 exceptionalism :)

[@Middlestepofficial]

We should all remember that Sumerians used a sexagesimal system back in 4000 BC, which is Base-60 and far from 10! They designed the 60-minute hour ffs... We still use the base 60 numbering for designing navigaton systems.

[@porky1118]

It's not difficult to use base 10 (decimal). It's just stupid to use base 10 (decimal). We should use base 10 instead.

[@dufinsmrts]

Also the problem is how they said " everything will be made in metric" they said that when my dad was a kid

[@marcderiveau2421]

How much do you weigh? Two stones and three pebbles. Thank you Mr Flintstone

[@DPSCRIVO]

I studied Physics at Uni in the UK. Occasionally they'd use Imperial and get us to convert them just to show how bat shit crazy the system is. Christ, having to account for minutes, seconds and hours was painful enough

[@dsp4392]

Time is a whole nother can of worm. Ask any software developer. Our current system is an absolute mess, and we've barely started tackling time in space and the relativistic effects. At least most of the world is on the same page and using the same system.

[@stargazer7644]

@@dsp4392 Time is fairly easy (leap seconds not withstanding), but dealing with the calendar in software is a right PITA.

[@81formann]

@@dsp4392 Not just software. Im in hardware as well, and when I started working with IMU and GNSS data I was shocked to see how hard it would be to get accurate data when sampling at up to 2KHz and moving at 200++km/t.

[@Nukepositive]

In the US, studying engineering, unit conversion was basically the only thing we did for a whole semester. Metric, Imperial, and even other weird shit - it didn't matter. It was drilled in us how to do unit conversion. To this day, I can still caclulate how many smoots to the beard-second by hand or whatever units there are. It's a skill engineers should know, even if they stay in SI. That being said, imperial needs to die and metric is the best.

[@Lord_Skeptic]

We British do use a hybrid. We are not getting rid of the British pint. That is British culture.

[@BoardroomBuddha]

I was raised in Canada when we converted to Metric overnight in the 1970s. Eventually, everyone has their own experience of what a kilometre is like, how much a litre is, what a gram of pot is vs. a kg of hamburger meat or what 5 C feels like. You just need to tie the physical experience to the theoretical measurement. It can be done in the USA.

[@trashmammal454]

100% his excuse as to why he cant use metric boils down to he just didnt use it enough to get use to it.

[@tschichpich]

@@trashmammal454 I feel like he said more that everything that surrounds him and his kids is imperial and that makes it so difficult to get the experience to be metric. For me a meter is about a step. Probably very off since that's my messure of being a kid but it's still in my head

[@westonhaught1720]

Idk when I visited Vancouver pizza sizes were still 12-14". Whats up with that Canada?

[@AndreasDelleske]

But not in 'MURICA.. the tribal zone currently occupied by about 50% reasonable people..

[@martinpallmann]

I had the same experience when we switched currencies in my country.

[@Topomato1]

The fact that you made a 22-minute video on basically what is a matter of "being used to", highlights the quality of the content you're willing to create.

[@kimgardner4464]

My thoughts exactly. What your used to does not equate to what is better.

[@lewis72]

Thanks. You've just saved me 20 minutes of my life.

[@jensenraylight8011]

This is more Like Apologist video, might as well become johnny Harris Public Apology video, for using a weird measurement system

[@Wolfeisberg]

@@lewis72 You really should watch it, because what the other guy said doesn't really give a good summary to it, the commenter is being really misleading about it. The video also includes the history of how the metric system was created, how one of the scientists who helped create it realized he made a mistake but didn't say anything about it for a good reason, how geopolitics and pirates are involved in why the USA didn't adopt the metric system. The video does explain why after many years of trying to train himself to use the metric system "naturally" in the same way Americans use imperial system "naturally" didn't actually work, and even trying to teach his own kids to use the metric system in a natural way also isn't working because of what they are exposed to throughout their life including school. The commenter you are saying "thanks" to is doing a huge disservice to you through dishonesty, disregarding a lot of historical and cultural information that is shared throughout the video.

[@lewis72]

@@Wolfeisberg That is as may be but having a units system that isn't based on Base-10 is ridiculous.

[@Lord_Skeptic]

9:37 that is at the equator. At the poles it is 40007.863KM.

[@wave1090]

I grew up in a country that still uses some imperial units (and spanish imperial units which are just as crazy). For example, pounds and ounces are used to measuring mass there. Moved to Europe as a grown up having never really used kilograms for anything. Within a year I was completely converted to kilograms and had even forgotten what a pound was supposed to be. So it can definitely be done. You just need to give yourself time to adapt.

[@Zerch-gi9qr]

all except the United States We don't need to memorize anything because our perception is in meters from birth. studying science becomes easy.

[@zarosonzyr6679]

I've never heard about the existence of spanish imperial units, and I'm spanish.

[@LanielPhoto]

A pound - that's a measurement of British money ! You kbnow - so many Shillings and Pence. How can you forget that ?

[@jlklinck24]

And to be surrounded by it

[@MKahn84]

Why though?

[@rolletroll2338]

The fact that there is a "debate " just because one country on earth doesn't want to be rational is astounding

[@schleich515686]

Aren't we used to that, as that one country is pretty unrational about other things to

[@spiritualanarchist8162]

A debate that wil remain a debate for now, because the time to implement it has passed. Now everything in the U.S is gets divided. I'm not American, but even I know there would be a part of the population that start ranting against the 'woke leftie metric system' and pro- freedom feet. ;)

[@DarkArcangelXMC]

I think there are 2 or 3 other countries

[@raminolta]

You have to keep in mind that specific country happens to rule the world.

[@LiopleurodonFerox]

@@DarkArcangelXMC Yes, Myanmar and Liberia I think. Others, like those in the Commonwealth, use a mix of metric and imperial. But without wanting to insult Myanmar and Liberia, they do not play as big a role culturally, economically and politically as the US (by far), so I think it's fair to say that only one of the global powers really uses it.

[@joelboutier1736]

Johnny... literally EVERYONE that changed over to the metric system in the past faced the same dilemma that you did. They weren't used to it. They got used to it & they got over it. Now, they enjoy a system where they don't gave to convert from a 1/16 in, feet to miles, or ounces to gallons. Now we're still stuck with this measurement system because people didn't want to adjust. They didn't get used to it & didn't get over it. Now we're still multiplying fractions & doing complicated conversions. I'm sure the adjustment we would have had to make would be long forgotten by now but we just didn't want to put in the effort. Now we're still stuck with it.

[@Kevin-jb2pv]

That's nice. You know, until you go to the hardware store and all the lumber is cut to inch measurements (that aren't even really the measurements they say they are but fuck don't get me started on that shit) and everything is still sold by the foot. It bugs me that so many people outside the U.S. shit on us for not using metric, but it's not like we can really switch to using it individually when everything around us is still in Imperial units. BTW, I think that, objectively, the way you guys measure fuel efficiency in the metric system is infinitely stupider than we measure it here, even with our dumb units.

[@jackb7705]

@@Kevin-jb2pv pretty sure you didn’t read the comment. The point is everyone had these same issues when they switched. You’re not special. It’s just that everyone else did it and gone on with life while you’re moaning about it all

[@kingkiller5325]

@@Kevin-jb2pv You realize that most other countries use Foot and inches too. A country can develop a system where both can be used when appropriate.

[@khaelamensha3624]

Funny because I grew up using the metric system and as I watch and read a lot of American and British videos and books, I get to use the imperial system 😂 nothing hard, just like a lot pesaid, just have to get used to it.

[@corivian]

You know this is true for most changes in the US, it is way more conservative than people in the US think themselves

[@legendarypillow1450]

As a scientist, I use metric for my calculations and research, and imperial system for everyday life. The imperial system is just better for that ime.

[@grantnitschke9794]

As an Australian Boomer, I grew up with the British Imperial Measurement System. However. during my twenties, we switched over to the metric system completely. It wasn't long before most of us were thinking in metric, although some of us (me included) occasionally think about something in Imperial. So I think anyone who claims to not be able to change is simply in denial and is using the "inability" as a madeup cop-out excuse.

[@PercussiveMaintenance]

Well said!! They made up excuses during the industrialisation and they continue to do so in 2023. But any job of real world application or significance(research, medicine, engineering etc) has silently moved on to the metric system for obvious reasons but the general public are stuck with an outdated system thanks to the educational inadequacies and inaction by the government. It probably explains the obesity crisis in America as all nutritional information on packages is in the metric system but no one even understands what it means!

[@JuanFranciscoGuarracino]

it is funny (lame, actually) how Australians use the metric system for everything except their own height. they are like "this tree in 3 m tall" "and how tall are you?" "six feet"

[@joachimmika1087]

Me too. What's ironic is that when my parents migrated to Australia from Germany in 1960, my father, who was a carpenter, had to learn the imperial measurement system ... only to have to convert back in the 70's when we went metric!

[@zibbut]

Exactly what i was thinking. It's all fun and games with ft and inches. Until you need to split a fraction of an inch in half. or know what 1" 25/64ths means. The whole excuse of "i can't relate" turns right around when you get into the fractions. bad habits die hard.

[@orti1283]

There you have it, switched completely. All your surroundings were metric, while in the US they're not and probably won't be for a long long time.

[@imagesbyraphael]

Australia went metric in the 70's and as a schoolkid, we grew up with rulers (typically 30cm) which had inches on one edge and centimetres on the other. So we always had a good idea that 12" was about 30cm. Today, you can still buy tape measure which has inches/feet on one edge and (centi)metres on the other.

[@rembrantwithagrenade171]

Same in India, we use metric, but also use some imperial units.

[@kiwizoey413]

Same in Taiwan where the inch has never been used

[@2kingjesus901]

Same in Kenya. In fact when I think of height I think of feet and inches not centimetres. Never have.

[@WBDelgado]

Same 🇨🇦

[@InvalidUser_]

Same in England but they're being fazed out

[@michaeljones559]

I'm an American expat living in Europe. I decided to take the metric plunge, and started with temperature. I found that if I simply never referenced Fahrenheit and always looked up the temp in Celsius, that before long I intuitively knew what the Celsius degrees felt like. Now I can usually guess the temperature within a degree. For other measurements I found volume the next easiest, then distance. Weight has been the most difficult.

[@MacNerfer]

That's probably the best way to do it. Weight isn't too bad for me to convert kg and pounds, but anything else would take some doing.

[@JakeDerg_CS]

just remember distances are base 10s. 1Km = 1000m = 100000cm etc it even works going into small values 1cm is 10mm etc

[@saybrowt]

You're not an expat, you're an immigrant.

[@MacNerfer]

@@saybrowt Do you even know what an expat is? And why is that the most important thing about his post?

[@saybrowt]

@@MacNerfer Yes, an immigrant. Don't make up fancy words for yourself cause you consider yourself to be better.

[@verywolfgang]

Alternate title: American yaps for 22 minutes straight about the metric system being rational

[@AlexC-jz7qz]

As a pilot I can say the imperial system is making everyone's lives more difficult in the industry.

[@EvoraGT430]

As a pilot I can say that's a crock.

[@DudeManBoroMan]

as a pilot im thankful imperial is standard, as a maker i’m not so thankful for imperial

[@rogerphelps9939]

Only for altitude.@@DudeManBoroMan

[@XdekHckr]

maker of what? wdym@@DudeManBoroMan

[@patakanz]

Aviation doesn't use any one system. It's a mixture of imperial (altitude), nautical (distance/speed) and in most cases, metric (visibility, air pressure, temperature, dewpoint). Personally I'm glad they don't use metric for altitude or speed/distance. "When ready, descend to one thousand two hundred metres" or "reduce speed to three three three kilometres per hour" (as opposed to "descend to four thousand feet" and "reduce speed to to one eight zero knots" is much quicker to say on the radio. There's also the fact that ATC 'units' are in blocks of 5 miles lateral and 1000 feet vertical, so to switch to the metric system makes all that a lot harder for those who separate aircraft from each other.

[@krombopulos_michael]

I live in Ireland and we made the switch to metric in my lifetime to metric. I can say it takes time to rewire yourself but it isn't impossible. I think the main thing is that, like a language, it is hard to do it if your environment doesn't re-enforce it. I was used to miles and stones and feet but now they are hard for me to understand after so many years of only using the alternative. Americans could get used to the metric system but it would have to come from the top down, not just from individuals trying to learn it like a foreign language. It's going to be nearly impossible to think in French without being surrounded by French speakers, and the same way it will be hard to think in metric unless you're actually forced to use it and get frames of reference for it every day.

[@vegigun]

Pretty much. A few years ago I decided to change all my weather apps to use Celsius instead of Fahrenheit. At first it was odd, but I've gotten to the point where I'm used to it. I live in the US and I know approximately what I should wear when it's 15C outside ... and I'm starting to forget what I should wear when it's 70F out.

[@swagmalone8092]

@@vegigun honestly the temp measurement is way worse in imperial than the distance for me since how it makes sense in metric, water freeze=cold=0 degrees/ water boiling=hot=100 degrees. wtaf is 100 degrees f fgs, makes zero sense.

[@gsrorive]

Same goes for all of us in the Eurozone who had to switch to Euros on some random Jan. 1st. I grew up with Francs, but now hardly know what it is because we learnt to use euros and cents. The days of converting everything are long gone. Does it take time and efforts? Yes. Is it impossible? No. Look at how Sweden suddenly had to learn to drive on the other side of the road in 1967. It seems impossible to me to drive in left-hand traffic, but it isn't; plenty of Brits seem to be doing just fine when they visit too.

[@MrMurkosullivan]

Agreed. Reducing intellectual expectations of a nation to the lowest common denominator never leads to global progress for our civilisation. Another moment I'm proud to be Irish.

[@grassfedreeve]

Yep, I moved to Australia as an adult. Swapping over was strange at first with lots of mental maths, but now I think in metric and it’s strange to talk to my family overseas when they use imperial hahah. A huge one for me was cooking and buying food, grams for everything works so well.

[@mikosoft]

As many many commenters pointed out, yes, you still can teach it not only yourself but also your kids and pretty much anyone. But there has to be a country wide switch. Same as we, a European country switched from our own currency to Euro. We had a one year transition period where all prices were mandatory double labeled. After that, everybody got used to euro, even my then 70 years old grandma and her friends. You just need to DO IT.

[@nicolasmartin-minaret6157]

yeah, but she wasn't American :)

[@benjaminrodary1788]

I was gonna say the same thing; I was 20+ when france changed from francs to euros, it took me a while to adapt, it took my parents even more, but after a while it become natural. BUT it have to be a national change because, as you said, as long as your children (or even you) only see imperial measurements in your daily life, you wont be able to change.

[@libelinhaa2079]

So true a couple of years after the change no one could be bother to try to convert to the old coin it worked perfectly

[@daroaminggnome]

Yeah but theres just no reason to do it. If you work in a field where it matters then you can use metric just fine no ones bothered by it, meanwhile in every day life imperial does not impact the vast majority of us. I'm not losing anything because I think of distance in miles instead of kilometers or because I measure in cups when cooking.

[@libelinhaa2079]

@@daroaminggnomeI was actually surprised to know that American labels are in the metric system because how are you supposed to understand what you are buying if you can't understand what is in it? I know most people don't even look at the labels but the only reason they exist is to inform the customer so this is kind of like writing a label in a different language at least that's how I see it.

[@samuelmontenegroserniotti7146]

Say what you will, but the "wtf is a kilometer" meme will always be hilarious.

[@steffenstein17]

What is interesting in this context is that both the inch (2.54 cm) and the feet ( 30.48 cm) are now defined on the basis of SI units (metric).

[@PvblivsAelivs]

I believe you mean "re-defined."

[@lred1383]

@@PvblivsAelivs yes, because their old definitions were unreliable, and physicists don't care about them enough to give them their own definitions

[@seabell]

Oh yes. Similarly, the pound is now defined as 0.45359237 kg

[@deutscher1a]

@@PvblivsAelivs isnt "re-defined" literally the same as "now defined"

[@jackherbic6048]

well kind of, now they are both redefined using universal constants.

[@danielfigueroa8333]

The worst feeling in my engineering classes is getting test questions using imperial units and having to remeber all these conversions

[@efxnews4776]

Imperial system makes no sense, simply because our math is decimal, we learn math as decimal for one simple reason, OUR FINGERS! We literally learn to count using our fingers, wich means our brains are hardwired to use decimal system, we been doing this since humans exist.

[@vikingthedude]

Yeah we humans like self torture.

[@westman8527]

Five tomatoes - how many feet in a mile

[@Kriss352]

US engineering schools teach in imperial system ? So gross. Just move to another continent, trust me.

[@mcloughlinguy4127]

@@Kriss352 heard the Netherlands is a nice place

[@fmsolee]

It's funny to see, as an adult, the metric sistem explained in such detail. It's very weird to think that there's people out there who struggle to understand something so simple.

[@artgoat]

It's even funnier when you find out how little Americans know about the system they think is "normal." As in the video above, where the woman thought a mile was 3,000 feet. You'd probably be hard-pressed to find anybody who could correctly answer that without looking it up. One of my favorites is the acre. That's a unit of square area, right? It's based on square feet, right? So how long, in feet, is one side of that square? IT'S AN IRRATIONAL NUMBER!

[@Tickbeat]

I think an acre is like 200x200ft? But I do know exactly how many feet there are in a mile as I have had it ingrained in my head for years. 5,280 You can not believe that I didn't look this up but I'll have you know that I didn't.

[@artgoat]

I can certainly believe you didn't look it up, because I also have it ingrained, along with 8 furlongs to the mile, and 1760 yards. An acre is 1/640 of a square mile, or 43,560 square feet (you were only off by 9%) . That means, not only can you not lay out a square mile AS a square with an even number of acres along each side (it's an irrational number), but you also can't lay out an acre as a regular square with an even number of feet along each side. 36 sections (square miles) make up one township. That, at least, is a 6x6 grid. Even more fun, the definition of a foot has changed over time, so when doing cartography, you have to know the year of the survey information. I know the American system quite intimately, which is one reason I loathe it so much. People who think it's "just fine" are those who never need to really use measurements in their daily life.

[@logic3686]

It's not a lack of understanding, it's a lack of caring and need to. Why does is fking matter?

[@Tickbeat]

@@logic3686 I mean, we don't need to, but it would make a lot of things way easier, both in our day-to-day lives, and in professional and scientific fields. It's way more logical and easy than the imperial system.

[@1957mattes]

What you don't realize is that it doesn't matter what length, weight or volume you take. The metric system is not about what size but about the way of calculating. A meter can also be longer or shorter as long as you divide it by ten. So it's not the size but the way of calculating.

[@Synoopy2]

?

[@KingKong11730]

Literally everyone realizes this, but ok if it helps you feel smart.

[@1957mattes]

Not everyone....because otherwise there would be no more miles, pounds, etc.

[@iPuls3]

@@1957mattes I mean.... that's literally how American's in contracting use miles and feet.

[@AdrienTheDrummerGuy]

My parents and grandparents grew up using the imperial system fahrenheit, miles, pounds, the lot. They 100% switched to metric in the late 70s and now do not internally know the distance of a mile... Canada did it 🤙

[@pingpong3311]

The only reason I know about the imperial system is because I go to America to visit family.

[@dosdont]

I'm of the age where we transitioned to the metric system while I was in school in the 70's and when it comes to metric vs imperial, my brain is scrambled, I visualize some things in imperial and some things in metric, it's actually a pain and have to constantly pull out a ruler or tape measure or google the conversion of things. For example, if you tell me something is 270mm, I can't visualize it but if you say something is about 10.5", I can visualize it. Very frustrating.

[@hypercube8735]

Canada still uses specific imperial units for a lot of day-to-day things, at least in my neck of the woods. Distances are measured in centimetres, metres, kilometres, etc., but human height is in feet and inches (when people from other metric-using countries say things like "I'm 170 cm tall" I don't have any real intuitive mental understanding of how tall that is, aside "180 cm is roughly six feet" and then having to do mental math from there. Admittedly, a lot of that might be from not meeting a lot of them in person - most of the people I know in the real world are Canadians or Americans, and not being able to look at how tall they are to map that "I'm 170 cm tall" statement to a real-world height you can see probably hurts on that front). Human weight also tends to be in pounds. Most other weights are in grams and kilograms, except for meat and produce at the grocery store, which is in pounds (although boxed goods like cereals and the like are in grams again)... temperature measurements seem to be based on how recently you bought your appliances like thermostats and ovens (which can lead to weird things like thinking about the outdoor temperature and weather in terms of degrees celsius, but indoor temperatures and cooking temperatures in degrees fahrenheit). A lot of recipes still use measurements like teaspoons and tablespoons and cups (when I get measurements that *do* use grams I feel like I'm back in a chemistry lab). Formal settings all use metric, but there are still some informal day-to-day uses where imperial seems to be more common. Oddly I can't think of any places where imperial volume measurements are used in Canada these days: even canned soft drinks say things like "355 mL" instead of "12 fluid ounces" even though the imperial measurement is the more precise one for that container (the can is exactly 12 ounces, so it's technically 354.882 mL, and they just round to the nearest whole number since mL are tiny anyway).

[@cewla3348]

@@dosdont eh 270mm is just 27cm

[@dosdont]

@@cewla3348 I understand that, but I think you missed my point

[@KAUFFMANN7]

Fun fact: the definition of imperial units, as the US is member of the Bureau des poids et mesures, is directly dependent of the metric system. The imperial system is just a overcomplicated variant of the metric system

[@TheMoparman]

I don't find it complicated. I'm used to it, so it's more or less second nature. All the meter-meter-meter is confusing

[@Aeronaut1975]

Which Imperial system? US or British?

[@TheMoparman]

@@Aeronaut1975 The only one that matters anymore. US.

[@seba8985]

Fun fact: the definition of metric units, as defined by of the Bureau International des Poids et Mesures, is directly dependent on immutable physical constants. The metric system is just an overcomplicated variant of real physical constants.

[@Aeronaut1975]

@@TheMoparmanTell me you're American, but without telling me you're an American. World Trade is done in Metric tonnes (1,000Kg)and not the US short ton. As far as I'm aware the USA is the only country that uses short tons, the same goes for a few other Imperial (US, not British) measurements.

[@roverboat2503]

I'm an English carpenter. When I first went to school, we used Imperial units so I know both units. Believe me, metric is SOOOO much easier than Imperial. Nowadays when I watch American joiners or carpenters on KZbin and they start doing calculations in inches and feet, I just think - hey guys, why not make things easier for yourself and use metric?

[@dalyclose7815]

Because for many of us, calculations in imperial aren't hard.

[@rxappdev]

@@dalyclose7815 I do not think you find it easy. How many gallons does a 2 feet wooden cube hold? It's easy to answer how many liters a 0.6 meter wooden cube holds. I can assume that sometimes you need to build for volume.

[@dalyclose7815]

@@rxappdev In situations like that we just use cubic feet

[@sourisvoleur4854]

@@rxappdev In what context would I need to know how many gallons a 2 foot wooden cube holds? Sincerely curious.

[@crosswordpuzzle2952]

We fought the English for a reason. Keep your Imperial units.

[@wesleyw7908]

When the entire world, including the entire scientific community, agrees something is better, why not just accept it?

[@user-hv5th1ws5m]

Exactly this ain't even a matter of opinion it's a fact

[@PatricioHondagneuRoig]

Now that's a fast way to get people to dislike the video without even watching it.

[@Levitationable]

Lol. That's true.

[@danieldey]

I did exactly that, lol, too bad KZbin to away the dislike count :'(

[@rocksmo3384]

@@danieldey You can see it with an add on (return dislikes)

[@upvotecomment2110]

This Channel Always amazes me with its mental gymnastics towards America

[@danieldey]

@@rocksmo3384 yeah, still not available on mobile I guess, but thanks bro, will add it on my laptop :)

[@tylervanprooyen1848]

I'm a metrologist and we strictly use metric in the lab. I really enjoy it over imperial. Best way to learn metric is having a relational thing to it. Just how it's done with any measurement system. Have objects that are normally a certain size, like 10mm for example. From there it's easy to start understanding how it works.

[@KJPCox]

I grew up using the metric system. It's funny seeing how you don't automatically convert between units, probably beacause it's hard in imperial units. Here people would say 1cm instead of 10 mm.

[@rmsgrey]

@@KJPCox But have you ever encountered people casually using dm? Where I'm from, people use cm because that's a convenient human scale unit (bearing a relationship to inches similar to the relationship between Fahrenheit and Celsius) and mm for precision or scientific work. Without more context, I would understand "1cm" as meaning "probably between 0.3 and 2cm" while "10mm" would say to me "between 9.5 and 10.5mm"

[@johnneedham7569]

@@KJPCox In my experience most sicence/engineering fields completly ignore the cm and just stick with the base 1000 units (mm, m, km, ect) but i agree, if someone were to tell me something is 300mm long i would convert it into 30cm in my head first.

[@KJPCox]

@@rmsgrey That's true, dm is rarely used, same as hm (100 m). I don't really understand what you are saying about the rounding. If precision is important you can say 1.0 cm so you have two significant digits, but this applies to all numbers and units.

[@KJPCox]

@@johnneedham7569 I'm no engineer, but as a physician I use cm a lot (size of lesions etc).

[@centrismo9110]

I'm from Brazil. Here in Brazil we made the shift from Portuguese Imperial Units to the metric system in 1862. It was 161 years ago. Today, EVERYBODY use the meters and kilometers and almost nobody knows about the existence of another measurement system.

[@alexdavies8079]

ofc

[@BornToBeUai]

Do you realize their arguments? 22 minutes to justify MURICA

[@castillo5148]

​@@BornToBeUaifuck murica

[@centrismo9110]

@@castillo5148 The US is a great country, but they should get rid of these units of measurements

[@adamdefibaugh9674]

Use both. We use both Metric and U.S Imperial. I love having two systems. I can even use British Stones too. Thanks for the history that you provided, viva Brazil, y viva el oeste.

[@zedwpd]

Americans do use metric. They all buy 2 liter bottles of soda and know how many milligrams of tylenol to take.

[@professionalnugget]

As a foreigner, I feel the same way you described at the end of the video about imperial, everything in my everyday life is in metric units, I'm not able to convert imperial units very efficiently bc I learned everything in metric growing up. I understand why metric doesn't really matter for your average American, but it is crucial for people that actually work in scientific fields.

[@Darkness-ng8lv]

Iam sad that he said "using the cubit to build the pyramids in 'cairo'" like why I know it is giza not cairo

[@Biriadan]

imperial measurements are still widely used in aerospace engineering so.

[@thegamesmob2001]

@@Biriadan not outside the US

[@gregedwards1087]

@@Biriadan, only in the US and probably very few companies altogether, ALL scientific ventures are now Metric across the world, so Metric is required in EVERY country, (US included) to be able to pursue a Scientific career, it is only a matter of time before the US ends up going Metric in everyday life. Suck it up and move on.

[@denaamisdaan]

@@Biriadan Also, NASA lost a spacecraft by not implementing the right metric/imperial system. If the whole world uses metric this wouldn't have happened. It doesn't matter what the US thinks/feels, the rest of the world uses metric and the US should too.

[@marktm00]

I remember moving to the US during high school and it scarred me for life how confusing was doing measurements here. Metric makes so much sense 😩

[@babblebob]

As an American I promise you, especially for measuring liquids, 90% of Americans doesn't know the Imperial system to a useable level.

[@odemata87]

@@babblebob I think thats something just relative. People know just enough about what is currently or will be useful to and for them. So that 90% idea is just bunk. Reminds me of those videos asking Americans about geography of other countries that doesn't concern them in their immediate life, it would be the same effect of a European being asked about characteristics of individual American states.

[@pepperonish]

Where did you go to high school? All of my science and engineering classes were 90% metric.

[@marktm00]

@@pepperonish not in high school. in everyday life for temps, height, weight, length, ect.

[@DevinDTV]

@@marktm00 celsius isn't any better than fahrenheit.

[@JerzyFeliksKlein]

You forgot to mention the temperature. We all use Celsius °C - 0°is the freezing point 100° is a boiling point. (37° is a normal body temperature). Again - simple and based on the most common and most relatable element - water. Also, I personally use the Japanese shoe sizing because it's literally your foot measured in centimeters which is more precise than inches.

[@Biriadan]

Except the freezing point and boiling point can shift around based on pressure and salt content. Water boils at temperatures lower than 100C at altitude.

[@BandGGaming]

Except how often are you actually using that fact?

[@markklausen813]

This is the perfect illustration of the mindset of metric people. They think they're being more precise, yet they fail to understand that the Imperial system is based upon established standards. It's every bit as precise to measure something in thousanths of an inch, they just refuse to believe it.

[@thereaction18]

Calories are based on water too but they always label water as zero calories no matter what temperature it is. Tell me how that makes sense.

[@coondog7934]

@@thereaction18 That is why we see a transition over to the physical unit Joule instead of Calories which is not based on water. Every label on every product within the EU shows calories as well as joule. Which one you want to use is up to you. The unit celsius is a bit wobbly since it relies on certain conditions like pressure and salt. I think that is the reason why temperature was not a topic in this video.

[@simonnoble2345]

At some time in your life, without any shred of doubt, you will need to use a 10mm spanner

You know what's even cooler now? The International system stoped using "tangible" references (because they are susceptible to change) and now uses physics constants for each unit definition. Making them...well...constant jeje

[@CaroAbebe]

Exactly! 😁

[@fredferd2649]

stoped?

[@Eclairiuss]

@@fredferd2649 yeah, they start with the meter, with the speed of light, time with the atoms, etc...

[@TamissonReis]

But what is cool is they choose to keep using the universe as the ruler. The constant are not arbitrary, they are constants that universe provides.

[@rotciv1486]

they recently got it for the kilogram using the Planck Constant!!

[@hitik7350]

As an student of Engineering, I found it nightmare to use Imperial units in calculations

[@physiocrat7143]

There are horses for courses. For household and artisan applications the metric system is a nuisance eg rulers marked in millimetres too small to see.

[@christophelegal9194]

@@physiocrat7143 Lol. Get one with 2 millimeters graduations then.

[@physiocrat7143]

@@christophelegal9194 Who sells them? Never seen any. They wouldn't work properly anyway as you still need to divide centimetres into halves and the 5 mm markings have to be fitted in.

[@sluin]

Yea but it's better than looking what fraction of an inch something is.​@@physiocrat7143

[@DriveCarToBar]

​@@christophelegal9194don't tell him that a 1/16th inch graduation on his trusty old Stanley tape is ~1.5mm.

[@JakacBatko]

I agree that using a system that no one around you uses is tricky because you can't train it in practice. But in Europe, when we went from our currency to the euro, we needed about a year to learn it. We no longer convert new prices into old money. We just use a new one. But I am guessing that is because everyone switched.

[@jefflewis4]

Yep it can only work if everyone switches to it. That's the reason the U.S. never adopted it. They didn't make it mandatory, so people just kept using the imperial system in their normal daily lives. Which for the most part is really not a problem.

[@PBMS123]

@@jefflewis4 They did that, industry, engineering etc. all use the metric system, NASA uses metric.

[@Atomic118]

Americans: nah we are so far up our asses that we will just believe things that we invent rest of the world is dumb.

[@flibbertygibbette]

Yeah. Living in a place that used the metric system exclusively for a year forced me to think only in that system while I was there. Daily exposure and practice just shifted it. When everything around you is using that system, your brain adjusts because it's easier to just use the new system, and repeated exposure does that. Whatever system everyone is using around you will be the one your brain defaults to over time, and if you're living in the US and converting everything to metric, then your brain will default to conversion rather than just recognizing things as metric in the first place.

[@ulrichfrank4270]

Wll, I convert and see how Euro conceals massive inflation.

[@Hugo90again]

The traditional system used in the USA is only USA. It is not the Imperial system.

[@THarSul]

Fun fact, the imperial system is actually defined by the metric system, which means that as a matter of technicality, even when using the imperial system, you are using the metric system.

[@Clell65619]

Well, no, not really. In the US at least, the US Customary Unit standards kept by the National Institute of Standards and Technology were taken and their lengths/volumes/weights were measured into SI units. The SI doesn't 'define' US Customary Units, as the standards are the same ones in place prior to the SI measurements.

[@MrGerdbrecht]

@@Clell65619 Wrong, they were not merely meassured into metric units, they are in fact based on them. The majority of U.S. customary units were redefined in terms of the meter and kilogram with the Mendenhall Order of 1893 and, in practice, for many years before. These definitions were refined by the international yard and pound agreement of 1959.

[@johnbull5394]

We all use non-metric measurements. Every DAY of the WEEK of every MONTH. And they are not based on the metric system (though it may be incorrect to call them Imperial).

[@michaeldavison9808]

That is a rather nonsensical and strictly speaking completely inaccurate statement. The definitions of imperial units were formulated long before the Metre was codified.

[@THarSul]

@@michaeldavison9808 please read the previous replies, this has already been addressed, and i do not feel the need to repeat myself.

[@DariusOutdoors]

As a German who grew up with the metric system I don't visualize metric units. When I think about a liter I think about a milk box. You're not supposed to know how much a liter is. 100 liters is a bath tub. A meter for me is a long step. A kilometer is what I run in 5 minutes or the distance I can swim safely without rest. You have to relate metric units to real things in order to make sense of them. I would recommend to just look for those intuitive relations for yourself.

[@AScareDK]

Exactly! I grew up with the metric system in Denmark and I agree on all your points.

[@Joppi1992]

@@AScareDK As a Swede, I only partially agree though. I do similar things, but I mainly rely on remembering images of measurement sticks (they do exist in different lengths after all, even though the vid only mentioned the 30cm one for some reason), as well as that measurement "tape" or w/e it's called in English, which is used very often for crafting things. As for a liter, I rely on pitchers with height measurements showing how much it is depending on how high the liquid goes inside it. (Milk cartons tend to have different shapes after all, so I never really found those to be reliable.) Even though these pitchers can have different shapes and heights as well, they're easier to remember precisely since they've each got those measurements showing on the side for a clear depiction of the amount inside it. So I use the same technique, just relying on different images in my head. As for weights, I just rely on stuff you can find in gyms. Although, in Sweden we still use the word 'Mile' (although we call it 'Mil'), which had various definitions but was then changed to 10,6km (or 10.6 for people using a dot instead of a comma for some reason) around 200 years before the metric system was introduced, which remained in Sweden after the introduction of the metric system because of sheer happenstance since it could be so easily converted, and was also changed to exactly 10km with the introduction of the metric system. So we use 'Mil' to refer to large distances, like for example distances between cities that matches or exceeds it, in colloquial speech. We use km for road signs and so on, because 'Mil' isn't accepted as a metric internationally, and Sweden doesn't want to confuse tourists and people coming here for work. Which is why it's limited to colloquial speech.

[@AScareDK]

​@@Joppi1992I think the point is, that when people used to the Imperial System lack a reference to how much e.g 1 meter, 1 litre etc. is, they need - as you, and I suppose most people do - a common object as a rough reference. Despite the different milk box shapes, I still use it as a refernce for 1 litre. I know basically how much 1 meter is, ever since we had this 1 meter ruler in my classroom in elementry school. Just as other people know how much e.g 1 foot is. It's not any different. It's just the reference that is different. Ofc. If you need to know an exact measurement, you use a ruler, a pitcher or the "tape" you mention (I know what you refer to) etc. All in all, I think we kinda agree :-) Btw. I live in Copenhagen and I visit Sweden frequently. I have actually on a few occations met swedes telling me, that this or that location is XX "mil" away. We also have a danish "mil" which AFAIK is a slightly different lenght, but it's never used in daily language.

[@Joppi1992]

@@AScareDK To be completely honest, it just bugged me that you'd use a milk carton since it's non-transparent and got those different shapes, so they're rougher to get a good idea from than a pitcher with measurements on the side. Then it turned into a bigger topic, and I just rolled with it. Had to make a lot of edits though, but I think I got everything covered in the end. 😆

[@AScareDK]

@@Joppi1992 Haha 😄 no prob. Oh, we haven't even mentioned those annoying soft plastic milk bags, that was (or still is?) on sale in supermarkets years back. They were a real pain to handle 😀

[@colinpitrat2205]

Video summary: because I'm not used to it. Note that many european countries managed to switch from their old money to Euro. This is the same kind of habit to change (except for a single unit instead of many at the same time). It's definitely hard, if at all possible, to change your habits on your own. This has to be a larger effort where you have dual labelling for a prolonged period of time, teaching of both systems at school, etc... Still for teaching yourself, I'm surprised that practicing it regularly didn't work at least for some of the common units, typically distances. If you use it on a daily basis for a couple of years, you should really get the feel for it at this point.

[@ackiid]

also, because smol brein and smol pp

[@austen98]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. This is a man who believes that the world is flat and that humans never went to the moon. He mentions in his channel, several times in fact, that this channel is about critical learning. Tell me, is it critical thinking when he gets things sorta right about flat earth theory and then does a complete u-turn and tries to prove that the moon landing was a hoax based on very specific conspiratorial evidence. The man and his channel are a waste of time. I wouldn't bother.

[@gregfaris6959]

I believe you misunderstood the video. The contributor, wishing to demonstrate his belonging to the "elightened" crowd who fully believe the metric system is the very cradle of science, finds he cannot because it conflicts with the Dark-Ages education being delivered his children, and so must acquiesce, against his own highly scientific better judgement.... As for the inept "EURO" comparison - Living through it in France I can inform you no one was fooled or confused by any of it. Prices increased by 66% on absolutely everything, and that is the whole story of the glorious "EURO". Poorer people.

[@AnFu2]

Thank you for summary. You just saved 20 min of my life.

[@Dj0enderman3000]

I don´t think it is worth for the average american to learn because they then have to know 2 systems since the large majority and the government still uses imperial, making your everyday harder than it could be. Learning a second system just for the cause of it isn´t worth, but if USA decided to now make every road sign into metric, every description and teaching school metric, then it would be usefull to learn. The one point I am with you is, that he should have get the feel for it at this point if he was consistant enough with himself.

[@rickicoughlan8299]

I was 12 when Australia switched to metric in 1970. When everyone is using the same system you soon learn to estimate things and your brain gradually converts. However, we still cook using cups, teaspoons and tablespoons (and I don't near American recipes) and we still talk about cars having "good mileage" before quoting how many litres per 100km they get (don't ask me about the Kilowatt or horsepower things though). And sure in Athletics/Track and Field we run in metric distances but did they make tracks a distance which would make sense (i.e. 500m around)? No. They made them 400m so that running 3000m or 1500m means you've got to start in odd places and men still do the short hurdles over 110m to keep parity with old yards records and don't get me started about the 3000m steeplechase. In short, we never got on board properly with sports (except for swimming and diving). So in short this only works with a little bit of time if everyone around you gets on board.

[@CurtisCT]

I also thought I could never use the metric system, that is until I moved to Europe and was forced to get used to it. 20 years later and I can now easily convert to and switch between the two. I have to say though, that the metric system is BY FAR the more superior and logical of the two systems. It makes so much more sense and is just a joy to calculate.

[@Allaiya.]

I hope it didn't take you 20 years to get used to it though.

[@InsoIence]

@@Allaiya. Does it matter? He learned it in the end, he tried, he did it.

[@anti167]

All america but the usa uses the metric system too lol

[@Channel-23s]

Height tho is better

[@Persun_McPersonson]

@@Channel-23s In what? Imperial? Nah, you have to haphazardly combine measurments or just use a bunch of the other. My height could be described in imperial as 3yd. 2ft. 4in., 5ft. 4in. (5'4") or 64in. (64"), which is way less logical than just having a single measurment that easily converts from a smaller to larger one by moving the decimal point-as, in metric, my height could be described as either 1.63m, 16.3dm, or 163cm, the last one being the most common since it's a single measurement with no decimal points. It's that simple and intuitive. Same with weight. A brit. would describe me as being either 117lbs. (pounds, which get illogically shortened to "lb(s)." because the ancient Roman equivalent of the pound was called the "libra") or 8st. (stone), whereas in metric you'd just say 53kg. Of course, stones aren't used in America, but what about ounces? 8.3 stone or 117lbs. is 1,872oz. (shortened to "oz." because it's the abbreviation that was used for the Italian word for ounce, the "onza"? WTF?), but 53kg is simply 53,000g. It's that simple. This dis-logic of the Imperial and Customary systems applies to all measurements, likewise with the logic of the metric system to all of its measurements.

[@Gelazio12]

I live in Mexico, I'm a civil engineer and we are kinda forced to learn how to use the imperial system because all the construction manuals and products are manufactured using imperial system. Feets, inches, pounds and yards are an everyday thing for me. It absolutely doesn't make any sense, but we have to learn it anyway. 🙃

[@MrRObot-bin]

Yeah, mechanical enginering student from mex here, and it is all true, i hate using imperial units.... But evverthing is inches.

[@arfriedman4577]

My job had to change to metrics because it's construction also., after all these years of American measuring.

[@realflorida211]

🇺🇸🦅💪

[@p_mouse8676]

You know what it is. Just all those different units don't make sense. I would be completely fine with milli-inches, inches, deci-inches, kilo-inches etc. Or similar with mili-feet, feet, deci-feet, kilo-feet etc. Second, if you work in engineering it's even worse. Half of the people uses decimals, the other half uses fractions. Yet, wires are given in AWG and drills go by number, sometimes it's the same for screws and bolts. It's a total mess. You're wasting so much time recalculating things and introducing rounding errors.

[@chrisdubs121]

Here in 🇨🇦 we use imperial for almost everything except for distance. Unless you're the government or working with metal then it's all metric. I don't even know how tall I am in centimeters haha even though it's on my license

[@ByToothandClaw]

I laughed when you said a foot is the average size of a foot. I'm Size 13 (UK), 14(US) or 48 (EU) and my foot is just under 12 inches. I struggle to find shops that have big enough shoes, the idea that I am below average would mean I'd see lots of people walking around barefoot! With estimates like this it is not surprising that women are ALMOST always disappointed in men's estimates of how long they "last" and how "long" they are!

[@Ris-v4w]

best one yet! 😂shorty!

[@jeffbguarino]

I don't think it is the size of a foot but when you walk you leave a small space between the heel and the toe of the foot behind. So I can walk across a floor and count the steps and get a rough idea of how many feet it is.

[@StevenSupticEdited]

@@jeffbguarino you can do literally exactly that but with normal steps for meters

[@tokesalotta1521]

Right, because they were barefoot when using their foot? Also, that's the origination. The actually size changed.

[@rolandsieker2286]

In some parts of Germany, the unit was called the shoe (Schuh).

[@etangdescygnes]

I am degree-qualified as a physicist and an engineer. Metric is much easier for all calculations, but in engineering I often encounter and use imperial units, in addition to metric. Imperial units often waste time and the arithmetic is more difficult to check, e.g. when using BTUs, calories, and tons (!) of refrigeration in HVAC, or slugs (!) in dynamics. I wouldn't touch potential employees who insisted that they'd "never use" imperial, metric, or other units. Moreover, it is simple to use conversion functions in spreadsheets and software. People of average to high intelligence have no problem.

[@machvayne]

Australia only changed to Metric in 1974. My dad grew up learning imperial and then had to switch to metric. It takes awhile, but is possible

[@TooLittleInfo]

I have a recipe book from Australia where everything is still measured in cups and spoons and I like it, it's like a historical relic haha

[@PASTRAMIKick]

yeah same thing with canada I think, I'm not canadian but that's what I've heard

[@budisoemantri2303]

usa just too lazy and stubborn

[@drag0nfi5t]

@@TooLittleInfo In Belgium and Germany there are still new recepes with (tea)-spoons. I think it's just because some ingrediënts don't have to be measured that precize and spoons are normally faster to grab than a scale and a container to weigh it.

[@Ciubowski]

I guess if every system and mentioning of the imperial system dissapeared, reinforcing the metric one will do it. But good luck convincing everyone that has changing power in the government to do that.

[@TheCaro2]

In short: Not using the metric system, because pre-school children in europe can measure meters but as an american, I am unable. You got that right :)

[@KlausKokholmPetersen]

european pre-school children are propably smarter than the average american adult.... 🤣

[@tarponmonkey39]

Challenge accepted - just switched my GPS running watch to metric instead of imperial. I ran a marathon in Germany almost two weeks ago and really enjoyed tracking my pace in km. The splits were shorter and more digestible than miles. You also get more frequent splits which helped me stay on pace.

[@sameerpatel105]

its also 40 and a bit km, so you get satisfying 10km intervals

[@Gian11235]

The word marathon has ancient legendary roots: it comes from a long journey taken on foot by the Greek messenger Pheidippides, from the battlefields of Marathon (a place in Greece) to Athens in 490 BCE. As the story goes, he ran without stopping, announced to the citizens of Athens, "We have won," and promptly died. a Marathon is a footrace run on an open course usually of 26 miles 385 yards (42.2 kilometers) the distance from Athens to Marathon

[@zoid88]

Always track exercise in km, gives you bigger numbers. And we all know bigger numbers = more better

[@CandorLupis]

the thing is though you could just use kiloyards for 90% the same experience (literally a meter is 91% of a yard). Nothing about metric is necessary for this purpose and the prefixes aren't unique to metric. every time i point this out people look at me like my head's on backwards but they have no problem with kilobytes, not like a byte is a metric unit.

[@dumdristig]

But, for weight and temperature, the standard units are closer together in the Imperial system (a degree F is smaller than a degree C, and a pound is less than a kg). So...

[@TechLoop-HQ]

Something that I tend to think is kinda crazy is. I grew up in the US. When I was younger I don’t think I ever understood inches and the fractional system. Moving into high school I started in automotive and as most people know I grew very familiar in metric tools and metric measurements. Mm and cm make sense to me and inches are completely foreign. I don’t understand how to read a ruler unless I’m looking at the metric side aha

[@iancameron6457]

I moved to europe about eight years ago, metric is great that the principal is understandable immediately. It took about two or three years because most measurements you've ever known are imperial but my mind really appreciated the logic and much deeper context of metric and now the imperial units I grew up on seem foreign and illogical to me

[@Skraeling1000]

OMG you've gone native lol! I had a sort of opposite experience, growing up in UK with imperial, then switched (mostly) to metric - then I moved to the US and I sort of liked having the old measurements again. Except, as was pointed out, the US pint is smaller than the UK pint. So I always feel I'm being scammed when I buy a beer :D

[@finncarlbomholtsrensen1188]

@@Skraeling1000 In the good old days, a Danish "inch" was different from a Norwegian "inch" (Actually, Tomme!), which operated with the same, insane system. So when the French found out to make a logical system we soon joined and actually got some of the finest measure samples which became made, to take home to Denmark

[@joenobody5913]

Just out of curiosity, have you enjoyed your move overseas? The older I get the more frustrated I've grown in the US and quite frankly I'm ready to gtfo of here. From those I've talked to a lot of them have been glad to have made the move. Really just seems to be what country to go to now...Thanks, any info appreciated

[@Skraeling1000]

@@joenobody5913 Two main aspects stand out on the negative side - healthcare (of course lol) and the vacation (or lack of) system in many areas of industry. On the plus side, gas and cigs are cheaper here. What country to go to though - I think they are all having their own problems right now, but if you only speak English then the big three, GB, Australia or Canada. If you are fluent in Spanish then .. well, Spain!

[@1992jamo]

@@Skraeling1000 Because the US doesn't actually use Imperial. It's uses "US Customary Measurements" which was adopted in 1833 but based on the already outdated "English Units" that had been replaced by imperial in 1826.

[@adelajasemilore9868]

40,075 is the equatorial circumference. The polar (which is what they worked on) is 40,008. It's still slightly off but not nearly as bad

[@lfmsimoes1]

An amazing level of accuracy, given that this was all done in the late 1700's, with a political/cultural revolution going on... All men and women that contributed to this amazing endeavour deserve my deepest respect and gratitude.

[@adelajasemilore9868]

He said the mistake was discovered so it could be even more accurate. If you factor that in that's almost exact. Although it could never be exact anyways because the way a meter is now defined has been altered.

[@danielrocha9891]

0.2mm off on the meter is pretty good for the 18th century...

[@nataliesteiner]

I have ALWAYS wondered this but forgot to ask!

[@ruudvandewiel7199]

"I won't use the metric system, because I'm trapped in the imperial system" - You're trapped as much in the imperial system as you are trapped in the English language i.e. you can learn the metric system as much as you can learn a new language. But that requires effort and the realization that there is more in the world beyond the borders of the US. Also, learning the metric system is way easier than learning a new language. I was born in Europe, lived there the first 35 years of my life, and then moved to the US. I learned to use the imperial system really fast, and it is not hard once you figure out what is what. In fact, I would argue that learning the imperial system for a European is much harder than for a US person to learn the metric system, due to the imperial system's lack of easy logic. So to summarize: learning something new takes effort and it will help you understand the world better, but it's up to you how important it is for you.

[@gustavomalta6428]

You need to expose yourself to learn a new language. The real problem is because everything around him and all US is in Imperial system, doesn't matter how hard he try to learn, he will neve be able to say "I really know metric system now", because he never uses. North Americans hasn't any small contact with it, so they are all doomed to this shit. Until some government strategy start to fix this.

[@m4173_]

@@gustavomalta6428 Or... he'll always have to drive that Arizona road each and every day 😂

[@cougar2013]

There is something you don’t understand. I used to preach this message on my way to a physics PhD as I was a TA and a tutor for many years, and now I think differently. The imperial system is based on highly composite numbers. We use dozens because 12 has more factors than any number smaller than it. 360 degrees in a circle and 60 minutes in an hour all fall under this umbrella. It’s about being able to easily divide things among people. Yes, it’s possible if everything is in base 10, but not everything in life is a decimal calculation. It’s fine for both systems to exist. Think about it, America uses imperial and is, far and away, the technological driver of the entire world.

[@ThroughTheGatesOfHell]

effort🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@ThroughTheGatesOfHell]

@@cougar2013 can you tell me how many inches are in 11.7654 miles in 5 seconds? you can't. Meanwhile I can tell you exactly how many centimetres are in 11.7654 kilometres. Case closed

[@thedubwhisperer2157]

Quickly, what's half of 11 miles, 975 feet and 2 19/32inches? What's half of 18km?

[@dirtyfeetadventures9672]

As an engineer, we use the metric system although while in college we were exposed to problems with imperial units so we had to memorize frequently used conversion values. In practice, it's metric system all the way, I cant imagine doing it in imperial. I still encounter imperial in daily life so had to be flexible and tolerant somehow.

[@FinnMcRiangabra]

Agreed. As soon as I see some Fred Flintstone units like BTU or ft, I heave a sigh and convert to usable units. Oddly, I am stuck with KSI (thousands of pounds [force] per square inch) for most material strengths. Oh, and that lie that your engineering professors told you about the pound being a US customary unit of force, not a mass is a lie (and nonsense about slugs). Since the early 1970's the U.S. pound has been defined with respect to the international kilogram, which is a mass.

[@jpcaretta8847]

Carter who was an engineer but a bad politicians pushed fir metrication. Idiots who followed stopped to please lazy idiots. Confusion also help stores as customers cant figure out and compare prices per quantity !

[@Adroit1911]

So you're not a Ford engineer then?

[@normanstewart7130]

You're in the US?

[@normanstewart7130]

@@FinnMcRiangabra You didn't mention poundals!

[@bilboswaggings]

Funny because when imperial is used it still requires the metric system, since imperial is now calculated from metric

[@BritainRitten]

Metric is definitely better, but that's not a particularly good argument for it. It's like saying coding in 0's and 1's is best because that's what you are *really* encoding when you write if's and for-loops in higher-level languages. Well yeah, but we're talking about the language we are facing, the one we are communicating in, not its underlying representation per se.

[@bilboswaggings]

@@BritainRitten and i didnt say its an argument for using it, just a funny fact

[@forevergone3637]

It isn't though

[@MrBahjatt]

In CrossFit they use lb and I have to calibrate to kilos. Sure lifting more seems sweet but it is also fake.

[@error.418]

@@forevergone3637 Yes, the official definitions for imperial units are based on metric units now.

[@Simqer]

For the metric system to be implemented you need a couple of things 1) The educational system should mostly focus on metric, in fact don't even teach the imperial stuff anymore aside from a few classes where they teach the conversion. 2) The tools and machines and stuff they use everyday should start being produced in metric slowly (you can start with a mixture of both options) but after about 20-25 years, it should be only metric. 20-25 years is enough for the new generation that has been taught in metric to enter the work force. 3) Add km on existing road signs, alongside miles. Start putting new signs on km distances with miles added extra. After 15 years, stop adding miles, and after another 10 years, remove all miles on road signs. It's not expensive as they made it out to be and you pace it out over several years.

[@Aragon1500]

Good luck convcing all 50 states to do that because legally the US prefers metric but the states lol no we're not changing all the signs

[@Simqer]

@@Aragon1500 And that's the problem right there.

[@williamdouglas8040]

Just do what we in Canada did. Road signs in km, fuel in litres, plus metric for all sold produce. It did not take long to switch even though we have a big brother to the south who refused. Do not worry about the rest - it will change in time. So long as people understand and are educated in the metric system then they can communicate with the rest of the world without issue. They can keep on measuring their weigh in pounds and height in feet. So long as they are comfortable filling out that international shipping label in kg, what they use at home does not really matter. Canada might be metric but we still use imperial measurements all the time. So do not even try to convert - the goal should be to make America bilingual (or bimeasurment perhaps?). As time progresses the imperial measurements will be used less and less.

[@jeannelagarde2489]

In France, on my bank account statement, for a very long time, there was how much I had on my account in euros (let's say 3000,00€) and written under it, the equivalent in francs, the previous currency (so 19678.71 FRF). It's quite recent that I now have no more the equivalent in francs. The switch (francs to euros) happened in 2002 but they stop giving me the equivalent at the beginning of 2019. So there's hope that the USA can switch to the metric system one day, slowly but surely.

[@e-curb]

@@williamdouglas8040 You haven't been in a grocery store in the past few decades. In the vegetable section, everything is priced per pound still. Then at the checkout, the scale measures it in kg and charges you the per kg rate. Try and buy a 1kg loaf of bread. They don't exist. You get a 454g loaf, or a 680g loaf.

[@NikolaiYlirotu]

How big is this football field? 150 alligators! Well ... right!

[@muhammadalaminahmad263]

🤣

[@lovienyoutube420]

that´s a big football field😂...just kidding, i´m not from the usa🤪

[@herbpowell343]

Or 150 Mississippis.

[@grandrapids57]

how big is this football field? X number of wavelengths! Like analyzed humor or sports, both are equally absurd.

[@surieldl]

That around 345 crying anti-metric campaigners

[@RhysDavies-n9f]

I'm a retired engineer in UK. Using SI units for the last 50 years but was brought up Using imperial. SI or metricis a far more homogeneous system. End of....

[@darkwoodmovies]

I'm low-key shook that the whole world somehow agreed on time. 24 hours, 60 minutes, 60 seconds.

[@bonecanoe86]

Why not 10 hours, 100 minutes, 100 seconds? Metrication is incomplete! lol

[@prim16]

@@oyuyuy There's still 24 hours in a day here. And many of us do use 24-hour clocks (like me). So I mean...

[@seannewell397]

Timezones kinda break the agreements, but yeah wild this has stood the test of time. 🥁🎶

[@Dr.Kittemmorty]

@@oyuyuy eh? it's the same clock my boy. AM and PM just indicate which part of the day, aka AM before noon (anti meridian) or PM after noon ( post meridian)

[@chrisjxn]

@@bonecanoe86 The French tried to do exactly this in the late 1700s

[@LucasRodmo]

You guys do decimal* with money. Imagine a world where a dime is 12 pennies, a dollar is 23 dimes, 10 dollars is 12.5 unit dollars, etc. See how we see it? Edit: changed metric to decimal

[@robertjenkins6132]

If metric is so good, then why don't you guys use metric time? 10 seconds in a minute, 10 minutes in an hour, 10 hours in day, 10 days in a month, 10 months in year. Something like that. What about degrees? There are 360 degrees in a revolution. That's not metric. Why not a power of 10? Hint: it has to do with divisibility (the factors that a base has). 10 does not have very many useful factors, only 2 and 5.

[@Zolpi1234]

@@robertjenkins6132 Metric time was almost a thing, it just fell apart because no one wanted 10 day work weeks. Other than that it would be much better.

[@stephenspackman5573]

@@robertjenkins6132 Er, officially angles are measured in radians. And I'm so glad you explained about factors, it explains pounds and ounces, feet and yards, pints and gallons so well! The metric system isn't perfect, but so long as we are using decimal numbers, it seems like the right engineering compromise.

[@unacuentadeyoutube13]

​@@robertjenkins6132just think: if metric isn't practical for those applications, imagine how unpractical imperial would be

[@Ustamika]

​@@robertjenkins6132 12 is named the perfect number for a good reason (and 13 break this "perfection" that's why 13 is feared by some ppl) and yes there was 10month 10hours 100min 100 seconds for a time but like you said it wasn't kept cuz 12 is simply the PERFECT number

[@sonixcocadventures8791]

I was born in the UK in 1947 and was brought up with imperial measurments. When the UK went (mainly metric) I had no probem using both, I will often measure in either metric or imperial depending on which is the best system for the task.

[@johnbull5394]

I think an abity to describe an object in a mixture of inches and mm is now a requirement for the immigration citizenship test, isn't it?

[@JDGuitar82]

Yeah in the UK we use both and just mix it up randomly.

[@richardgriffiths6823]

Born in '58 - and totally concur. What's the big deal USA..??

[@justusP9101]

So your 80 y old now huh?

[@owenthomas7720]

@@justusP9101 why are you doubting haha, no way an 80 year old can use a computer right, also they would be 76 now not 80

[@mvslice]

I use imperial units because I like to restore vintage furniture and electronics. This means that I cannot use metric tools or metric parts. Trust me, I would much prefer to have only one set of wrenches, sockets, etc..

[@77gravity]

16:54 I love that when comparing two non-metric measurements, he uses a THIRD system (metric) to arrive at an answer. I love metric. I was born in 1962 (Australia) and grew up with Imperial, we moved over to Metric while I was in primary school, and so I learned both, and I still use both, aged 61. Metric is my go-to, but sometimes it's easier to say "foot" than "thirty centimetres" - BUT, as a wood and metal worker, metric RULES.

[@youtubuzr]

I'm trying to force myself to pure metric for woodworking now. I'm just so tired of doing fractional math.

[@Palocles]

What year was your primary/conversion to metric? I have a mish mash of metric and imperial in my head but i’m a bit younger and from NZ. I’m not sure if we converted later or I picked it up from my parents and learned metric in school.

[@77gravity]

@@PaloclesI'd guess around 1969-1971, aged 7-9, I don't really remember. I was already conversant with imperial, picked up metric without difficulty.

[@mrewan6221]

@@Palocles We changed in 1973 (in primary schools). There were earlier changes in some fields, and our currency changed in 1966 (NZ 1967, UK 1971). The US changed to metric currency in 1792! There were some hold-outs, and feet is still valid for vertical seperation in aviation. I was at primary school for the change, and although I think of paper sizes in millimetres, I think of margins in half-inches. Height is feet and inches, but weight is kg,

[@norwalkagent3333]

Aren't decimeters and similar prefixes used in colloquial speech where you live? It's far easier to say "two dec(imeters)" than "twenty centimeters". Or "two hecto" instead of "two hundres grams".

[@MrTitosb]

As a European engineer I found it funny when I learnt physics formulas are often (even) more complex in America because they incorporate some weird conversion factors because units less close to tradicional human activity (like Newtons, Volts...) are defined based on the Metric System.

[@Limbaugh_]

As an American student it pisses me off so much

[@gamingsfinest3356]

As an American student as well, we pretty much exclusively use metric in the stuff I do. I've come to understand and visualize both metric and imperial...

[@Limbaugh_]

@@gamingsfinest3356 are you in engineering? My calculus and engineering instructors use imperial while my physics obviously uses metric

[@larcomj]

my physics courses used metric. im not sure which US universities dont use metric for physics.

[@FrankFurther]

They should be using SI units for anything scientfic.

[@deelaw.]

I'm British and yeah I hate how we have a mix of both. Weight is usually measured in Kg but on all our roads it's measured in miles. Hope we can eventually use the kilometre.

[@hunterkill97]

For me I use everything in Metric. The only time I use the other one is when I measure someone's height.

[@schijtnaam]

Why is weight measured in miles on your roads? Sorry, saw an opportunity for a dad joke and I couldn't let it slide :)

[@mytimetravellingdog]

I'd love to piss the brexiteers and other reactionary old people so much by just going fine you like pounds and ounces cause of vague cultural things - lets metricise everything and you can keep the names and the rest of us can ignore them (apart from pints) as we have been metric pound - 500g metric pint - 500ml metric ounce - 25g metric mile - 1km A metric yard - 1m Etc

[@orangoutan8727]

Ireland was also miles and they eventually transitioned into km for good in 2004. It's never too late.

[@pissiole5654]

in Australia the only thing you still commonly hear measured in imperial is height

[@Randys_Channel]

Japan uses the metric system, but traditional measuring systems are also commonly used in certain industries, like carpentry ("shaku"), floorspace (tatami mats), and land ("tsubo").